Thalia Ensemble - Reicha: Wind Quintets - The Observer

Anyone who has played a woodwind instrument is likely to have encountered the jolly wind quintets of Antoine Reicha, a Czech composer active in Paris at the start of the 19th century. Funny how some composers just manage to find a genre to suit them: while we have forgotten Reicha's many ambitious operas and symphonies, these ensemble pieces live on because they are so satisfying to play and such fun to hear. This new recording shows off the recent winners of the York Early Music International Young Artists Competition, an Amsterdam period-instrument ensemble. Once past a rather excruciatingly tuned chord early on, they respond to Reicha's easy-going charm with skill.